It is a known fact that in HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA, both Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt are playing Punjabi. While being a Punjabi by birth did help Varun relate to the setting and milieu, he had Alia Bhatt for company who has been a Mumbai girl all through. Though she has been caught in a Delhi setting earlier with HIGHWAY taking her places, it seemed like business as usual for the pretty girl who went on to explore 2 STATES, well literally, while playing a Tamilian girl with aplomb.

"Yes, HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA is a new space for her as she hasn't played a hardcore Punjabi character like this before," says Varun, "I keep teasing Alia that this is the messiest role she has ever done. In fact now that the film is out, you can see that she is being much more aggressive and energetic than me. This also reflects in the relationship that we share in the film. So while time and again you see love being on fire, in this film it is about friendship set on fire. Moreover, when they love, it is aggressive too. Really, there is a new Alia that you get to see in the film and I am proud of that."

He does admit though that since some of the other senior actors have made a name out of playing Punjabi characters in number of films, he too had to live up to the expectations.

"You look at Akshay Kumar and Sunny Deol. When they come on screen, Punjabis react in an altogether different way. There is a sense of energy and pride in the way they approach their character up North. Of course HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA is not as massy a film but then for me there was a job in hand to make sure that as a Punjabi I was convincing on screen. I guess being a Punjabi has helped for sure," he smiles.

With the film just a couple of days away from release, it would be interesting to see how this Punjabi act plays on screen.